Euphemia Cunningham

Euphemia Culbert Cunningham OBE BEM (later Baxter; 1892 – 2 August 1989) was a World War One munitions worker at HM Factory, Gretna, who was the first person from Edinburgh to be awarded a Medal of the Order of the British Empire for her bravery in rescuing injured workers, during an explosion in the cordite factory.

Life Euphemia Cunningham was born in Edinburgh in 1892, and had four brothers. Her father was a Gordon Highlander. She worked in a printing factory in Edinburgh, but in October 1915, as three of her brothers had died in World War I, she chose The Gretna Girls was a collective nickname given to women munition workers at HM Factory Gretna in World War I.

Her role in the factory was in the nitroglycerin section, which involved mixing dangerous chemicals nitric acid, sulphuric acid and glycerine with nitro-cotton to make cordite. Within a few months, she was made forewoman of her section. The medal was awarded "for courage and high example in continuing her duties immediately after a severe explosion." She and her husband are both buried in the Karori Cemetery.